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Tranny

Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout

By Laura Jane Grace

Paperback

£13.99

From the provocative transgender advocate and lead singer of the punk rock band Against Me!, a "riveting" (PW, starred review), "savagely candid transgender memoir" (Esquire) - named to Billboard's 100 Greatest Music Books of All Time list - exploring her search for identity and her true self.

ONE OF BILLBOARD'S "100 GREATEST MUSIC BOOKS OF ALL TIME"The provocative transgender advocate and lead singer of the punk rock band Against Me! provides a searing account of her search for identity and her true self.

It began in a bedroom in Naples, Florida, when a misbehaving punk teenager named Tom Gabel, armed with nothing but an acoustic guitar and a headful of anarchist politics, landed on a riff. Gabel formed Against Me! and rocketed the band from its scrappy beginnings-banging on a drum kit made of pickle buckets-to a major-label powerhouse that critics have called this generation's The Clash. Since its inception in 1997, Against Me! has been one of punk's most influential modern bands, but also one of its most divisive. With every notch the four-piece climbed in their career, they gained new fans while infuriating their old ones. They suffered legal woes, a revolving door of drummers, and a horde of angry, militant punks who called them "sellouts" and tried to sabotage their shows at every turn.

But underneath the public turmoil, something much greater occupied Gabel-a secret kept for 30 years, only acknowledged in the scrawled-out pages of personal journals and hidden in lyrics. Through a troubled childhood, delinquency, and struggles with drugs, Gabel was on a punishing search for identity. Not until May of 2012 did a Rolling Stone profile finally reveal it: Gabel is a transsexual, and would from then on be living as a woman under the name Laura Jane Grace.

Tranny is the intimate story of Against Me!'s enigmatic founder, weaving the narrative of the band's history, as well as Grace's, with dozens of never-before-seen entries from the piles of journals Grace kept. More than a typical music memoir about sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll-although it certainly has plenty of that-Tranny is an inside look at one of the most remarkable stories in the history of rock.

Biographical Notes

Laura Jane Grace is a transgender musician best known as the founder, lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the punk rock band Against Me!. Since coming out as transgender in a 2012 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, she has become an outspoken advocate for transgender awareness. She has a daughter and lives in Chicago.

Dan Ozzi is a New York-based writer and has served as the editor of VICE's music site, Noisey

Other details

ISBN:
9780316264372

Publication date:
31 Aug 2017

Page count:
320

Laura Jane Grace shows great bravery diving into every detail of a story seldom told, with the advantage of having kept journals documenting everything she went through, from childhood to the beginnings of her band. Capturing the pain and struggle, self-doubt and lack of support she experienced, Grace provides a valuable starting point for a conversation to broaden the understanding of, and empathy for, trans people. — Joan Jett, Billboard's 100 Greatest Music Books of All Time

An ambassador for the gender revolution currently sweeping through public restroom policy and National Geographic covers [and] a potent tool for empathy that hasn't quite existed in pop culture....Grace and co-writer Dan Ozzi spin green room drama and rock star recklessness into a gem of a rock bio that belongs on a shelf alongside Hammer of the Gods and Get in the Van. — Paste Magazine, Best Nonfiction Books of 2016

A full-length tell-all about Grace's lifelong journey to discovering, accepting, and at last publicly acknowledging her true identity....[told] with daring candor...the memoir establishes her as at once a transgender icon and a modern day heroine. — Harper's Bazaar, Best Books of November

A savagely candid transgender memoir, and thus far, the only quintessential text regarding Against Me!--one of the most significant punk bands of the aughts and onward. Without a smidgen of sarcasm, I would highly recommend the book to your grandmother, even if she is afraid of transpeople and can't name three Clash songs. — Esquire

Virago

The Surreal Life of Leonora Carrington

Joanna Moorhead

My Brother's Husband

Gengoroh Tagame

Authors:

Gengoroh Tagame

Yaichi is a work-at-home suburban dad in contemporary Tokyo; formerly married to Natsuki, father to their young daughter, Kana. Their lives suddenly change with the arrival at their doorstep of a hulking, affable Canadian named Mike Flanagan, who declares himself the widower of Yaichi's estranged gay twin, Ryoji. Mike is on a quest to explore Ryoji's past, and the family reluctantly but dutifully takes him in. What follows is an unprecedented and heartbreaking look at the state of a largely still-closeted Japanese gay culture: how it's been affected by the West, and how the next generation can change the preconceptions about it and prejudices against it.

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Eliot Weisman, Jennifer Valoppi

Authors:

Eliot Weisman, Jennifer Valoppi

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Access All Areas

Scott Ian

Authors:

Scott Ian

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Princess Hair

Sharee Miller

Crossing the Thinnest Line

Lauren Leader-Chivée

How Much Brain Do We Really Need?

Jenny Barnett, Alexis Willett

Authors:

Jenny Barnett, Alexis Willett

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Malice of Crows

Lila Bowen

Authors:

Lila Bowen

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Miss D and Me

Kathryn Sermak, Danelle Morton

Authors:

Kathryn Sermak, Danelle Morton

Miss D and Me is a story of two powerful women, one at the end of her life and the other at the beginning. As Bette Davis aged she was looking for an assistant, but she found something more than that in Kathryn: a loyal and loving buddy, a co-conspirator in her jokes and schemes, and a competent assistant whom she trained never to miss a detail. But Miss D had strict rules for Kathryn about everything from how to eat a salad to how to wear her hair...even the spelling of Kathryn's name was changed (adding the "y") per Miss D's request. Throughout their time together, the two grew incredibly close, and Kathryn had a front-row seat to the larger-than-life Davis's career renaissance in her later years, as well as to the humiliating public betrayal that nearly killed Miss D. The frame of this story is a four-day road trip Kathryn and Davis took from Biarritz to Paris, during which they disentangled their ferocious dependency. Miss D and Me is a window into the world of the unique and formidable Bette Davis, told by the person who perhaps knew her best of all.

The Authorized Roy Orbison

Roy Orbison, Wesley Orbison, Alex Orbison, Jeff Slate

Rhett & Link's Book of Mythicality

Rhett McLaughlin, Link Neal

Authors:

Rhett McLaughlin, Link Neal

"Internetainers" Rhett & Link met in first grade when their teacher made them miss recess for writing profanity on their desks, and they have been best friends ever since. Today, their daily YouTube talk show, Good Mythical Morning, is the most-watched daily talk show on the Internet, and nearly 12 million subscribers tune in to see the guys broadcast brainy trivia, wild experiments, and hilarious banter (not to mention the occasional cereal bath). Now the award-winning comedians are finally bringing their "Mythical" world to the printed page in their first book. A hilarious blend of autobiography, trivia, and advice, Rhett & Link's Book of Mythicality: A Field Guide to Curiosity, Creativity, and Tomfoolery will offer twenty ways to add "Mythicality" to your life, including: Eat Something That Scares You Make a Bold Hair Choice Invent Something Ridiculous Say "I Love You" Like It's Never Been Said Speak at Your Own FuneralThe goal of these offbeat prompts? To learn new things, laugh more often, and earn a few grown-up merit badges along the way. Heartfelt and completely original, this book will be the perfect gift for anyone looking for a fresh dose of humor and fun.

Sophia Loren (Turner Classic Movies)

Cindy De La Hoz

Authors:

Cindy De La Hoz

From the humblest of beginnings in her native Italy, Sophia Loren would flourish on the world stage as one of the most beautiful and talented actresses the screen has ever known. A prize in a beauty contest at age 16 led to a career that has lasted more than sixty years and performances in a diverse canon of films, including The Pride and the Passion, Houseboat, Marriage Italian Style, Grumpy Old Men, and Two Women, for which she was awarded the first Best Actress Oscar given to the star of a foreign film.Sophia Loren is a photographic tribute to the beloved icon, recounting the star's extraordinary life and notable films with famous costars and directors and quotes by Sophia and those who have known her best. Filled with hundreds of rare color and black-and-white photographs, it's a volume as stunning as its ageless subject.

Lies My Girlfriend Told Me

Julie Anne Peters

Authors:

Julie Anne Peters

When Alix's charismatic girlfriend, Swanee, dies from sudden cardiac arrest, Alix is overcome with despair. As she searches Swanee's room for mementos of their relationship, she finds Swanee's cell phone, pinging with dozens of unread texts. Unsure what to do, Alix reads the text messages, all of which are sent from a mysterious contact "L.T." The most recent text reads: "Please tell me what I did. Please, Swan. Te quiero. I love you." Shocked and betrayed, Alix comes to learn that Swanee's been leading a double life -- dating a girl named Liana for the entire time she's been with Alix. Alix texts Liana from Swanee's phone, pretending to be Swanee in order to gather information, before finally meeting face-to-face to break the news. Brought together by Swanee's lies, Alix and Liana lean on one another to come to terms with her death. Soon, their connection deepens, and the two find themselves falling in love.But Alix is still hiding the truth from Liana - she was the one sending the texts from Swanee's phone, pretending that Swanee was alive. Alix knows what it feels like to be lied to -- but will coming clean to Liana mean losing her, too?

Soul Survivor

Jimmy McDonough

Authors:

Jimmy McDonough

With songs like "Love and Happiness," "I'm Still in Love with You," and "Tired of Being Alone," Al Green is considered by many to be the greatest soul singer of all time. He has sold more than 20 million records, been sampled by countless hip-hop artists, and even had President Obama singing his tunes. One of the most intricate and elusive figures in popular music, Green has never been scrutinized in print successfully-until now.Soul Survivor is the biography of a man whose life is the embodiment of the collision between the sacred and the profane, traversing the tortured road Green roamed from gospel to secular and back again. Readers bear witness to some of the greatest music ever recorded and the never-before-told story of Green's label, Hi Records.

Ava Gardner

Kendra Bean, Anthony Uzarowski

Authors:

Kendra Bean, Anthony Uzarowski

Ava: A Life in Movies is a gorgeous illustrated tribute to a legendary life. Authors Kendra Bean and Anthony Uzarowski take a closer look at the Academy Award-nominated actress's famous screen roles while shedding new light on the creation and maintenance of her glamorous image, her marriages, and her friendships with famous figures such as Ernest Hemingway, John Huston, and Tennessee Williams. From the backwoods of Grabtown, North Carolina to the bullfighting rings of Spain, from the MGM backlot to the Rome of La Dolce Vita, Ava: A Life in Movies takes readers on the stunning and exciting journey of a life lived to the fullest and through four decades of film history with one of its most iconic stars

Waylon

Terry Jennings, David Thomas

Authors:

Terry Jennings, David Thomas

In a signed copy of his autobiography, Waylon Jennings penned a personal note to his son, Terry Jennings, ending it with the words, "I did my best. Now it's your turn." It is with this spirit in mind that Terry has finished telling the true story of his father's remarkable, unvarnished life.Born when Waylon was a mere nineteen years old, Terry had an intimate view of his father's antics, as the two shared an incredibly close relationship. More like brothers than a father and son, by the time Terry was thirteen he was a regular on the road, smoking marijuana with his dad and observing the wild ways that laid the foundation of the infamous country-music sensation, "The Outlaws." When it came to "The Outlaws," Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson were active players in the debauchery, as Waylon led a reckless lifestyle centered around his music, hard drugs, and women. Critical acclaim, sold-out tours and mob-like pandemonium were unfortunately overshadowed by darker personal challenges he faced including multiple divorces, crippling debt, and severe depression stemming from his best friend Buddy Holly's premature death.Terry Jennings witnessed all of the above and was a willing participant. As he followed his father on the road he began working with the crew, managing Waylon's career and becoming his closest confidante. Despite their closenes, though, the rules of the road ultimately prevailed. Eventually Terry found himself nursing a drug habit that eclipsed his father's; more than once Waylon even stole Terry's girlfriends. While it is no secret that Waylon was no saint, this is an honest look at a loving and complicated father-son relationship that will resonate for generations of country music fans.

Things I Carry Around

Troy Cassar-Daley, Tom Gilling

Authors:

Troy Cassar-Daley, Tom Gilling

A born storyteller, Troy Cassar-Daley has at last turned his talent to sharing his own inspiring life.'Troy's achievements are many, and perhaps the finest may be his ability to make us listen to his heart.' Joy McKeanFor the first time, Troy talks about his early life - how his parent's divorce changed things for him, about missing his Dad and growing up in Grafton surrounded by the warmth and love of his mother, Irene, his Nan and Pop and his extended Indigenous family. A larrikin at heart, Troy includes all the highs and lows on his path to stardom: the thrill of performing on stage at the Tamworth Music Festival with Jimmy Little when he was just 15; the excitement of heading off on tour with Brian Young and then discovering just how lonely life on the road could be; his first record deal; playing with the greats - Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Slim Dusty; his first album Beyond the Dancing, which blended his indigenous heritage with his rural background; meeting the woman who would steal his heart; recording in Nashville; and, finally, releasing True Believer, the album that really launched his career. The multiple Golden Guitar, APRA, ARIA and Deadlys winner also lets us in on some of the life lessons he learned the hard way, lessons that kept this prodigiously talented Aussie on the straight and narrow (most of the time). Things I Carry Around, is the warm, genuine, and inspiring story of a young indigenous Australian who had a dream and turned that dream into reality. 'Troy's a true gentleman, warm and genuine, always a pleasure to be around. He sings straight from his heart and straight from the heart of his country.' Paul Kelly

A Blade of Black Steel

Alex Marshall

Authors:

Alex Marshall

After five hundred years, the Sunken Kingdom has returned, and brought with it a monstrous secret that threatens to destroy every country on the Star. As an inhuman army gathers on its shores, poised to invade the Immaculate Isles, the members of the Cobalt Company face an ugly choice: abandon their dreams of glory and vengeance to combat a menace from another realm, or pursue their ambitions and hope the Star is still there when the smoke clears. Five villains. One legendary general. A battle for survival.